The Russellville Junior High East Lady Whirlwinds advance to the second round of the Central Arkansas Conference Tournament on Thursday night with a 46-37 win over Cabot South.

In the first period, the South Lady Panthers outscored RJHS East 10-6, but East Lady Whirlwind coach Nina Chiolino and the team continued to fight in the second to outscore Cabot South 16-6 to lead 22-16 at the break.

In the third, the RJHS East added 21 points to its lead while holding the Lady Panthers to 19 to lead 43-35 heading into the fourth.

"Our defense was key to winning this game," Chiolino said. "Kelsey White came in and hit some big shots for us down the stretch."

Jamie Long led the East Lady Whirlwinds with 18 points, and White had nine. Cyia Oliver and Laura Brown each had five. Olivia Crisp had two, and Meaghan Peevey end the night with one.

RJHS East will play in the second round today at Whirlwind Gymnasium at 4:15 p.m. The East Lady Whirlwinds opponent will be either Bryant or Conway Blue.

Sr. boysLamar 46, Cedarville 39

The Warriors advanced to tonight's 4AAA District tournament championship game against Hector with their win Thursday night over Cedarville.

The Pirates outscored Lamar 13-11 in the first period, but the Warriors (26-1, 14-0 4AAA) came alive in the second as they put 11 points on the board. Lamar held Cedarville to eight in the second to lead 22-21 at the break.

In the third, the Pirates outscored the Warriors 9-8 to knot the game 30-all heading into the final period.

"We always say that an ugly win is better than a pretty loss," Lamar coach Jerry Miller said. "We couldn't find a good way to attack their zone in the first half. We made a few adjustments, and went on a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter to give us a 13-point lead before we subbed out.

"Really glad to be moving on to the finals to play Hector. Hector is a tough, talented team and we'll have our work cut out for us."

Coty Storms led Lamar with 31 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Jon McCarley had 13 points, five rebounds, seven steals and eight assists. Hunter Stumbaugh had two points and two assists. Dustin Goodman had four rebounds.

Tonight's 4AAA boys' championship game is scheduled to tip off at 8.

Sr. girls

Charleston 54, Lamar 48

The Lady Warriors bid for the 4AAA District title came up short Thursday night as they fell to the Lady Tigers of Charleston.

Things were going Lamar's (14-13, 9-5 4AAA) way in the first period as it outscored Charleston 14-13, but the Lady Tigers turned the tables in the second.

Charleston held the Lady Warriors to only four points in the second quarter while scoring 14 itself to lead 27-18 at the break.

In the third, Lamar was got back in the game as it put 12 points on the board and limited the Lady Tigers to nine, but the Lady Warriors trailed 36-30 entering the final stanza.

"I thought our kids played hard again tonight, we just run out of time at the end of the game," Lamar coach Carl Ramsey said. "We got off to a great start, then got in some early foul trouble that slowed us down the second quarter. We battled back in the second half and had a chance to win down the stretch.

"It would have been easy to quit but we never did, we just shot poorly and that was the difference tonight. I want to say thank you to all that helped with tournament and to all our many sponsors."

Allison Williams led Lamar with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Shaw had 10 points. Caitlin Kenner had four assists.

Lamar will play in the regional tournament in Charleston at 4 p.m. Wednesday against either West Fork or Shiloh Christian.